brian dunigan
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As noted by dunfly, the conventional wisdom seems to be that you can wind the reel faster with your right hand. I personally don’t buy into this, because I’ve never encountered a fish that I couldn’t handle with my left.
Strangely enough, I fish with a spinning rod or flyrod held in my right hand and reel with my left. But with a baitcasting reel, I hold the rod with my left hand and reel with my right. I can’t tell much difference in winding speed. I don’t know why I differentiate; maybe it’s habit, or maybe the “reel on top” configuration of a baitcaster just balances better with a different, left handed grip.
I *do* think certain rod actions are easier to impart with my more coordinated right hand – thus, I work a streamer (or a Zara Spook or fluke on conventional gear) better with the rod held in my right hand. It’s just easier to get that twitch-twitch-twitch action going more smoothly with my more dextrous hand.
bd
Caught several dozen fish late Fri on my 1wt using my cheap .005 fluro and a 22 midge. :-*
And if I didn’t have to work, I’d have outfished you.
25 yards for $12 vs 200 yards for $15 = $81 savings x3 = $243. IMO that makes it worth the .000 whatever difference to me.
Fine by me – you just won’t be able to fish with anything smaller than 4x.
Well, after doing some looking, there does seem to be a difference in strength/diameter between the larger line spools and tippet. For example, 6 lb. Seaguar has a diameter of .008. Since tippet X-sizes are measured by diameter, this is equivalent to 3x tippet. But the Rio Fluoroflex Plus 3x is rated at 8.5 lb. test. Going down to 4lb. Seaguar, it is .007, which is equivalent to 4x, but the Rio 4x is rated at 7 lb. test – so if the testing on all the lines is accurate, the tippet material is significantly stronger.
I haven’t seen Seaguar (or any other large spools of fluoro line) for sale around here in weights less than 4lb. test. Thus, the equivalent of 5x, 6x, or 7x would be hard to find. Plus, in those very fine x-sizes, you need all the extra strength you can get anyway.
So I guess now I can feel better about spending $12 on the tippet spools.
bd
If I really had any brains at all about the cost, I’d just buy the large spools of fluoro line that the spin fishermen use, and re-fill the little tippet spools when they get empty.
Finally. A topic I actually know a little about.
As far as places to look for canoes, check to see if http://www.craigslist.com has a classified page for your town. In my area, Craigslist often has some great deals on canoes and kayaks, so hopefully it will be the same for you.
As far as what to look for: You will want a long canoe (16′ minimum) with a flat center bottom, ideally a shallow arched bottom toward the ends (though this is hard to find), a keel, and the widest midsection possible. You will sacrifice ease of paddling – the more stable the canoe, the harder it is to paddle and the slower it goes. But I would rather go slow and be dry. If you are fishing, you will mostly be floating along slowly with the current, paddling only occasionally for course adjustment. Note that if you fly fish, you will either learn to cast sitting down, or you will use the canoe to move from Point A to Point B and you will wade. I would never recommend standing and trying to flycast in any canoe. That is not their intended purpose.
Watch out for people who make excuses for tippy canoes:
“It’s a little tender feeling when you first get in, but after a while you just forget about it.”
“The initial stabilty is a little shaky feeling, but the secondary stability is excellent!”
“It feels pretty stable after we load it with gear.”This is usually hogwash. I want a canoe that feels rock solid. Somebody on the forum recommended a 17′ Grumman, but with all due respect, I just sold one exactly like that because it was way too tippy for my liking. Ask MikeA and Okieff on this board – they rode in this canoe, and it would scare you to death. For the record, the most stable canoe I have ever owned is a 16.5′ Alumacraft.
Rounded bottom canoes have less initial stability than flat bottoms and will rock way more than you want them to. Secondary stability is good with a round bottom – a flat bottom will go over easier if you push it past its “tipping point.” But a flat bottom will be more enjoyable to paddle as long as you don’t do anything crazy. A wide, flat bottom will be hard to tip. Plus, the tippy feeling of a rounded bottom can panic a newbie and cause them to make abrupt moves that will tip you in a heartbeat, notwithstanding secondary stability issues.
Like I said, the ideal is a combination: flat bottom in the center for initial stability, but rounded toward the ends to provide tipping resistance. I believe this is the principle the Riverhawks are based on – Souris canoes use this principle too. The keel will make the canoe track straighter, but increases draft slightly and lowers fast maneuverability. For these reasons, a keeled canoe is a no-no for whitewater.
One other consideration is “rocker.” Rocker describes the degree to which the canoe protrudes downward in the middle and protrudes upward at the bow and stern. More “rocker” curvature means more maneuverability, but at the expense of straight tracking and stability. Since you don’t intend to be doing swift turns or whitewater tricks, avoid rocker and get a canoe that is flat from front to back.
If you get an Old Towne, try before you buy. They are great canoes because the synthetic material is virtually indestructible, and they are very light for easy portage. However, at least some models are tippy. I have heard other people praise their stability, but I have a 14′ Old Towne Guide and it is a bit squirrely. It is not as bad as the Grumman by a long shot, but it is tippy enough that I don’t like using it on fast water with newbies. Maybe the bigger models are more stable, but I’d be suspicious until I tried them. I kind of favor aluminum for ruggedness, economics, and stability. Obviously, synthetics are much better if you will have to portage your canoe for any distance at all, but if you can float from an easy put-in to an easy take-out, I think aluminum will serve you better in the long run.
Riverhawks are extremely nice, but they are also very expensive. They also are not really for paddling – you really need a motor on one. Also, since they’re made of fiberglass, they aren’t as rugged as an aluminum or synthetic canoe, so you have to be careful. I think Riverhawks are great, but honestly, I don’t think they are the best choice for a beginner or for family trips.
One other thought – think about getting a cheap jon boat trailer for transporting your canoe.
So where all the species of carp present in North America introduced at some point or are there some that are considered native?
Though I didn’t make the distinction, the fish being killed were common carp and buffalo.
I’d be in favor of bowfishing limits, liberal ones, for carp. 20 fish a day isn’t asking too much; there’s plenty of sporting opportunity in bowing twenty carp in an afternoon. I think fishermen should be required to take the carp with them too, rather than just letting them lie, both for counting purposes and to reduce the dead matter quotient in the rivers.
That sums it up quite nicely.
bd
I like my GLX 5wt for smallmouth fishing – it’s not too much rod for the fish, but it handles the larger flies well for a 5wt.
I had a Bass Pro CV2 on my 8wt for a long time until I started doing a lot of heavy duty carp fishing with it.
